OKMULGEE, Okla. — The Muscogee Nation is expanding its language classes to public schools across Green Country. Starting in the fall, students will be able to take Muscogee as a world language that counts toward graduation.
Mvhayv (teacher) Carolyn starts her Muscogee language class, taking roll and greeting her students. After the greetings in Muscogee, students practice the Muscogee alphabet, colors, and numbers.
“They always told us, always try to speak it whenever you can and never forget it,” said Carolyn McNac.
McNac grew up speaking Muscogee. She said English was her second language, which she didn’t learn until school. Teaching wasn’t originally in her plan, but she said it’s her way of keeping her language alive.
“Teaching it is like leaving it for someone else to carry on when you’re not here,’ said McNac.
She’s been teaching the pilot program of the Muscogee language curriculum at Dunbar School in Okmulgee. The language courses will soon be offered virtually to more than a dozen schools across Green Country.
“We want to normalize Muscogee,” said Eli Rowland-Chang. “It should be normal that all of our Native American languages are able to be spoken in public spaces without it being seen as an odd or novel event.”
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Eli Rowland-Chang is the Language Revitalization Project Manager for the Muscogee Language Program. She’s in charge of creating the curriculum to make sure it meets the U.S. standards for language teaching.
“I’m excited for how many schools up in our Tulsa area have signed up to do it,” said Rowland-Chang.
Sapulpa Public Schools is signed up for the curriculum next year. They’ll initially offer Muscogee 1 and Muscogee 2 for 8th through 12th grade students.
“We have almost 40 tribes represented, the farthest one being Alaska,” said Kayla Chupco. “The majority of our students are Muscogee and Cherokee.”
Director of Indian Education Kayla Chupco said her job is to incorporate native culture in the district and honor the heritage of many of the students. Chupco spends time teaching the Muscogee language in her American Indian Studies class but is grateful that a dedicated language course is coming to the district virtually next school year.
“It’s almost a mysterious thing, and by bringing it to light, it's saying that Muscogee and indigenous languages are also very valid and very important,” said Chupco.
Several of the students in her current class have already signed up for the new world language.
“I love language,” said Payson Wickliffe. “I love different languages and stuff.”
Payson Wickliffe is starting high school next year. He said he loves learning Muscogee and is excited to future develop his skills in the classroom.
“Hopefully one of these days people can talk fluently, and I feel like that’s the main goal of it,” said Wickliffe.
The program manager says normalization is the goal of the language program. For McNac, who only speaks Muscogee with her siblings right now, she says she’d love to see the day when her language is everywhere.
“To me, that would be a great feeling because, you know, it’s like, ‘Oh good. It’s going to keep going,'” said McNac.
District sign-ups for the language classes end this week. These courses are open to all students. Muscogee 1 starts at the very beginning with the alphabet, so no prior knowledge is needed.
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